David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael)
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Question 28: To ask the Minister for Defence if he has carried out, or intends to carry out, a study into the impact of sea-going time on naval personnel retention; the impact on the families of naval personnel; the amount of time spent at sea at present; his plans to reduce that amount of time; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7151/06]

Willie O'Dea (Limerick East, Fianna Fail)
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The question of retention of personnel in the Naval Service was tackled through reforms introduced through the Defence White Paper of February 2000. Those reforms were the result of a series of earlier studies between 1990 and 1999. The reforms implemented were part of a five-year plan that has just been completed. The plan included the following: restructuring of the Naval Service organisation to ensure that the vast majority of personnel had a "sea to shore" rotation providing periodic posting to shore-based appointments for sea-going personnel; monitoring of each individual's sea-time to ensure they are aware of their own number of sea-going days; a patrol plan which specifies when ships are due to be at sea throughout the year, facilitating planning of personal time by each individual; improved rates of sea-going allowance; and a very effective personnel support system, PSS, that provides support for individuals who may have family welfare problems. In addition, personnel serving on ships have additional leave when serving afloat — 15 days for other ranks and 12 days for junior officers. The impact of sea-going is well understood by naval personnel at all levels. The system for managing sea-going by the individual is working well. The personnel support system offers professional support to personnel who have personal or family difficulties.

The Naval Service endeavours to operate a planned approach to the sea-shore rotation of personnel, based on a two-year period of commitment to sea-going duties, followed by a two-year period ashore subject to the exigencies of the Naval Service. However, where there are shortages of skilled personnel within the Naval Service, it may be necessary for personnel to carry out sea-going duties more frequently.

The reorganisation of the Naval Service was designed to ensure that, when fully implemented, all personnel would spend alternate periods of two years in a shore-based appointment, followed by two years in a ship-based sea-going appointment. In that regard, I should point out that two years in a ship-based sea-going appointment does not imply that people spend two years at sea. On the other hand, some Naval Service personnel are keen to spend more time at sea and, where possible, they are accommodated. Overall, the broad range of strategies adopted by the Naval Service, including continuous recruitment, direct-entry officer schemes, direct-entry technician and internal technician schemes, focuses on achieving sufficient numbers of trained personnel so that the planned approach to sea-shore rotation, based on the two-year cycle, is maintained. That helps to ensure that Naval Service personnel do not spend unduly protracted periods at sea.

I am aware of the difficulties regarding the deployment of certain technical Naval Service personnel, especially engineering staff, engine-room artificers and electrical artificers. The position is that the number of such appointments in the Naval Service was increased following the reorganisation of the Naval Service.

Given the specialist nature of those additional positions, it was not possible to fill them all until such time as personnel had completed the necessary training. It was always accepted that it would take several years for all appointments to be filled by suitably qualified people.

While the increased number of specialist appointments could not all be filled instantly, thus creating some unavoidable transitional difficulties, I am assured by the military authorities that the arrangements now in place to provide suitably trained and qualified personnel should see an early improvement in the situation.

More generally, an annual level of discharge of 129 in 1999 has fallen to a sustainable level of around 60 per annum in the last three years. That figure includes discharges of recruits at an early stage of training and involuntary discharges for reasons such as medical classification. The Permanent Defence Force operates fixed-term contracts for enlistment. Some personnel retire on age grounds or when they have secured a service pension entitlement. Other individuals will decide, for their own reasons, to take up employment elsewhere. The Naval Service establishment is 1,144, and the current strength is 1,082. There is an ongoing intake of recruits. Overall retention in the Naval Service is good.